see you at 6:00. >> hill: tonight, the labor day guests nobody wants. earl closes in on new england after wearing out his welcome in north carolina. i'm erica hill. also tonight, a powerful magnitude-seven earthquake hits new zealand. buildings have crumbled, roads are blocked, but it isn't over yet as the country braces for more aftershocks. plus, the long road back. businesses are hiring again, but not fast enough. and how did a man who began his life here end up living here? everybody in the world has a story. captioning sponsored by cbs from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> hill: good evening, katie is

off. north carolina's governor says her state dodged a bullet today but will the northeast be as lucky? hurricane earl is now a category one storm. it's weaker but still dangerous with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles an hour. and it is large. with tropical storm winds stretching for 200 miles. this hurricane is also picking up speed, heading northeast at 22 miles an hour. bringing strong gusts and heavy surf to the coast just in time for the holiday weekend. the eastern end of new york's long island is next in line for a brush with earl. elaine quihano is in montauk tonight. elaine, good evening. >> reporter: good evening to you erica. in just the last hour or so we've seen conditions here really start to deteriorate with the winds, the waves, the rain all starting to pick up now. tonight this area remains under a tropical storm warning as hurricane earl swirls up the eastern seaboard. as hurricane earl skirt it is

eastern end of long island, officials warn the storm could bring powerful wind gusts of 65 miles per hour and blinding rain. >> this is dangerous stuff, the potential for major problems and you have to be ready. you have to prepare for the worst. >> reporter: the storm sent even experienced life guards scrambling. as the wind whipped up the surf, causing dangerous rip currents. in new jersey, a 20-year-old man went missing thursday night while swimming in rough surf. high winds and heavy rain caused authorities to suspend the search for his body friday. in north carolina, there were no reports of injuries, but streets were flooded in parts of the outer banks and homes and other buildings were damaged after the hurricane brushed past overnight dumping up to four and a half inches of rain and bringing wind gusts of up to 78 miles per hour. hurricane earl is also affecting holiday travel. airlines have canceled some 200

flights and amtrak has suspended service between new york and boston because of damage from the storm. erica? >> hill: elaine quijano in montauk tonight. thanks. so what's happening to earl and what can we expect tonight? david bernard is our cbs news hurricane consultant and chief meteorologist at cbs 4 miami. david, of course, this was a powerful category four storm at one point, peak winds of 145 miles per hour. it seems to be weakening rather quickly. what's happening? >> well, it's pretty simple, erica. let's look at the map where this storm is located now. it's moving from very favorable warm water in the 80s to water temperatures in the 70s, and a cold front is coming toward the east coast, that's helping to push earl out, and that's not a real favorable factor for strengthening, either. so those two things together are causing earl to weaken quite a bit. >> hill: while it is weakening quickly, this doesn't exactly mean folks in new england are in the clear tonight, david. >> no, erica, it will be a nasty night in new england, particularly in rhode island, massachusetts, and coastal areas of maine.

radar and satellite indicates heavy squalls there just south of rhode island and also the cape. that's going to come across tonight and areas of maine will see that heavy rain as well. look at the wind field. the yellow area are the tropical storm force winds, 40 to 74 mile per hour winds. gusts to hurricane force in orange, and the red are hurricane sustained winds. those are in a very small area, but as we take the track across the coast tonight, you can see that yellow area will sweep much of the cape and even coastal maine tomorrow morning. you can expect at least those tropical storm force conditions even though the storm is weakening. >> hill: cbs news hurricane consultant david bernard. thanks. with earl still a threat, warnings are up along the new england coast, including on cape cod, where we find dean reynolds tonight. he is in chatham. dean, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, erica. well, they've established shelters now on cape cod, and for those others who've chosen to remain in their homes, they're being urged to stay there as this storm comes ashore late tonight.

at the first drop of rain this morning, merchants on cape cod's main streets began boarding up. in chatham, sally davis protected her gallery. >> i'd rather err on the side of caution than have the whole thing go. >> reporter: hotels lost some bookings. >> we have 26 rooms and i've had eight cancellations. >> reporter: but as earl was losing steam, downtown traffic was gaining cars, a sign that most people intended to weather this particular storm and carry on with their labor day weekend. you're just going to ride it out? >> hopefully it's back to the beach. >> reporter: but they still believe this is going to be a very long night here with high winds, torrential rain, and damaging storm surges. erica? >> hill: dean, thanks. overseas, a developing story in new zealand where a powerful magnitude-seven earthquake struck while most of the nation

was asleep. the epicenter was just west of christchurch, a city the size of minneapolis. there are no reported deaths but there is plenty of damage and also some looting in the city. here's ben tracy. >> reporter: the streets in christchurch are littered with bricks, the buildings above ripped open by the massive jolt that struck just before dawn. >> oh, my gosh. well that shake lasted probably over a minute. >> reporter: 75% of this city of nearly 400,000 people is without power. the hospital is running on a generator, and countless water pipes have burst. the 7.0-magnitude quake hit a 4:35 saturday morning. frightened energizers huddled in the streets after fleeing their homes in their pajamas. >> my house was completely swinging from side to side. i could hear lots of banging and noises crashing around everywhere. >> reporter: despite being the same size as the quake in haiti that killed 230,000 people, the damage here is much less due to better building codes, fewer people, and the time of day the quake hit. >> people were home, they

weren't walking around in the streets past brick buildings. >> reporter: earthquakes are not rare in new zealand. the country has around 14,000 quakes each year. but only about 150 are felt, and less than ten do any damage. as the sun rises, aftershocks continue to hit the area, jolting this already shaken city. ben tracy, cbs news, los angeles >> hill: back home, a new sign the economic recovery will be a long, slow journey. today the labor department reported private businesses added 67,000 jobs in august, but overall the economy lost jobs as the census bureau laid off more temporary workers. and the unemployment rate inched up to a tenth... a tenth of a point, rather, to 9.6%. wall street was encouraged by the news that businesses are hiring, though. the dow jumped 128 points today for its first positive close week in a month. anthony mason is our senior business correspondent. overall, anthony, a bit of a mixed bag?

>> yeah, erica. weak as the job numbers were, they were better than wall street expected and seemed to give investors confidence the economy can avoid a double-dip recession. with american businesses creating 67,000 jobs in august, the private sector has now added jobs for eight straight months. >> these numbers are telling us that the economy is not falling off a cliff. it's not booming, either, which is the bad news. >> reporter: but the median length of unemployment fell below 20 weeks in august. it had been 22.2 weeks in july. 19,000 construction jobs were added last month, and 17,000 temporary jobs. nearly 400,000 temporary jobs have been added over the past year as employers have remained cautious. >> there's a great uncertainty the economy right now. >> reporter: daniel herrick is c.f.o. of pilla performance eyewear in connecticut. a year ago his company had five employees. today it has 18. >> almost all of you are expansion has been with the use of temp employees.

>> reporter: that still means work for louisa ola. >> i'm still pinching myself. >> reporter: after two years of looking, she finally landed a temporary job as a bookkeeper. >> for the first time in two years i didn't have to call unemployment. i didn't have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to get online with unemployment. it was wonderful. >> reporter: but it could be a while before others share that feeling, says economist michael darda. >> we're going to need 200,000, 250,000 jobs on a monthly basis for a sustained period of time to get back to anything that looks like full employment. and that is years away. >> reporter: meanwhile, the so- called underemployment rate, which includes those who have been forced to take part-time work and those who've given up looking rose again in august to 16.7%. erica? >> hill: anthony, thanks. in pakistan today, more deadly political and religious violence. a suicide bomb went off at a demonstration by shiite muslims. at least 54 people were killed.

the pakistani taliban claimed responsibility. it is the latest in a string of deadly attacks by that group, which is trying to overthrow the western-backed government. coming up next: america's crumbling roads and bridges. this one man-- look at him-- he has to row to work. and a bit later, he now owns a mansion, so why won't he just sell his old mud hut? steve hartman has the answer. is it dominates your life, he- and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. ♪ it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] chantix is a non-nicotine pill that stays with you all day to help you quit. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it's proven to reduce the urge to smoke.

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>> hill: another sign the economy is slowly improving: more people on the road this midday. a.a.a. predicts more than 34 million will travel more than 50 miles this holiday weekend. that's up about 10% from last year. many of them, though, will be driving on roads and bridges that are falling apart, and fixing them won't be cheap. richard schlesinger continues our series "cbs reports: where america stands." >> reporter: this is the last way delivery man mike sweeney ever expected he'd be commuted to work. how did you used to commute? >> like everybody else: drive over the bridge. >> reporter: no big deal? >> no big deal. >> reporter: that's the lake champlain bridge between new york and vermont, when there still was a bridge. f.d.r. opened it in 1928 and it carried as many as 4,000 vehicles a day, until last fall when, with almost no warning, it

was closed. the american society of civil engineers issues a report card every four years on the state of america's infrastructure. and the last one in 2009 was not good at all. the overall grade was a "d." "d?" that's as good as it gets? >> and it's not getting any better. back in 2005 we also did a report card and it was also a "d," there so we haven't gained any ground. >> reporter: andrew hermann helped write the report card which examined every aspect of the country's infrastructure. bridges got a "c," but even with that average grade, 12% of them- - more than 72,000 bridges-- are too old, or what's politely called "structurally deficient." >> it means we've been ignoring our infrastructure for decades. we've been underinvesting in what we have. >> reporter: the problem with bridges became impossible to ignore in 2007 when the i 35 bridge collapsed in minneapolis.

13 people died. mike sweeney began rowing to work in vermont last october when engineers became so alarmed after an underwater inspection of the pilings holding up that bridge... >> we have a vertical crack. >> reporter: ...that they closed it with just ten minutes' warning. no lives were lost but life hasn't been the same since. >> 80% of my business came across that bridge. >> reporter: lisa owns what is used to be known as the bridge restaurant-- until she decided to change the name-- on the vermont side of lake champlain. on a snowy day last december, she watched them blow up that bridge. ( explosion ) >> wow! >> reporter: it wasn't worth saving. now the only way across is either by ferry or a 90-minute drive. a new bridge will cost at least $70 million.

and spending money is part of the solution. china spends 7% of its g.d.p. on infrastructure. india: 5%. but the united states spends less than 2% and engineers think the u.s. will have to spend $2.2 trillion over five years to bring the overall grade for infrastructure up to an "a." do you think governments will be able to sell taxpayers on this notion? >> it's going to be difficult. >> reporter: but the solution isn't just spending money, it's also spending money wisely on things like research and development. at the university of michigan, dr. victor li is close to perfecting a new kind of concrete: flexible concrete. it's one bright idea that could have a big payoff. li's concrete is not only flexible but it also heals itself. any cracks that form will expose millions of tiny micro fibers

that form a seal when exposed to air and water. the cracks fill themselves in before they compromise safety. would a bridge made with self- healing concrete last longer than a bridge meat today? >> definitely. a good number to keep in mind would be a hundred-year lifetime. >> reporter: the problem is, self-healing concrete will probably cost three times as much as the regular stuff. the experts say there's no getting around it: any improvement to any infrastructure is going to cost. >> we're going to have to do that now for the future, for our grandchildren. >> reporter: the engineers insist if we don't start spending money and spending it wisely, more and more americans will end up in the same boat as mike sweeney, and soon. richard schlesinger, cbs news, vermont. vermont.

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but the drop out rate increased 50%, and the state had to take over the schools. fact: the city controller found employees paid for 22,000 hours... they never worked. fact: brown promised to cut crime. but murders doubled, making oakland the 4th most dangerous city in america. jerry brown. he just can't deliver the results california needs now. >> hill: arizona's republican governor jan brewer is trying some more damage control after a series of high-profile blunders. today the governor admitted she was wrong when she claimed headless bodies had been found in the arizona desert because of violence linked to illegal immigration. governor brewer also conceded she didn't perform well in the debate wednesday with her democratic opponent terry goddard. brewer had trouble getting through her opening statement. >> we have done everything that we could possibly do...

( laughs ) we have... um... did what was right for arizona. >> hill: brewer says she won't take part in any more debates. on a lighter note, if you get lost while driving, do you stop and ask for directions? a survey in britain found three quarters of women have no problem doing that. as for the men, one in four said they would drive around for half an hour without asking for help. one in ten won't stop at all. so the men end up driving an average of 276 extra miles each year looking for that destination. and over a lifetime, that adds up to an extra $3,000 on gas! and endless mileage for some of the women. in this country, plenty of men and women will drive miles for a good burger. which one, though, is the best? there's a brand new "consumer

reports" survey to rate the burgers at 18 restaurants. the top choices: in and out burger, a west coast staple; five guys, a favorite for president obama; and fuddruckers. at the bottom? three national giants: burger king, jack-in-the-box, and mcdonald's. talk about a feeding frenzy. some hungry sharks kept swimmers out of the water today in northeast australia. the dark blob you see in the water is a school of tuna and other smaller fish-- also known as lunch to the sharks who took full advantage of the buffet. who took full advantage of the buffet. r . that's two pills for a four hour drive. the drive is done. so it's a day of games and two more pills. the games are over, her pain is back, that's two more pills. and when she's finally home, but hang on, just two aleve can keep back pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is rachel, who chose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain.

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and the people and businesses are back to normal... until we make this right. we've been best friends since we were two. we've always been alike. [ lindy ] we even both have osteoporosis. but we're active. especially when we vacation, so when i heard about reclast, the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment, i called joni. my doctor said reclast helps restrengthen our bones to help make them resistant to fracture for twelve whole months. [ lindy ] and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in many places: hip, spine, even other bones. [ male announcer ] you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain, of if you have dental problems, as rarely jaw problems have been reported. the most common side effects include flu like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain and headache. nothing strengthens you like an old friendship. but when it comes to our bones, we both look to reclast.

you've gotta ask your doctor once-a-year reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. a long time to be rescued. next on cbs 5 >> hill: steve hartman travels the world searching for people with interesting stories. his next chapter in this series begins a week from monday, but in the meantime, here's one of our favorite installments of "everybody in the world has a story." >> liftoff! >> reporter: when cbs news and nasa launched this unprecedented project, our theory was that earthlings are earthlings, and that no matter where astronaut jeff williams sent me, i'd find someone who shares our basic american values... although honestly, we never planned on this. the country, oman. the city, muscat.

it's in the middle east, right next to yemen. the official faith: islam. the official language: arabic. well, i'm going to have to point and you'll have to say what the name is. my dad especially was worried about how i'd be greeted in this country. >> abdullah al shukely. >> reporter: hello. fortunately, dad, not only was a greeted with a warm smile, i was greeted with a warm plate. this is the traditional way when you have a visitor? >> yes. >> reporter: and for dessert, another unbelievable story. when abdullah al shukely retired just a few months ago at the age of 60, it marked the end of what had to be one of the most successful careers on the planet. not because he ended up with a mansion, but because he started with dirt. this feels like it's a thousand years old. >> yeah, some of them are older. >> reporter: abdullah actually grew up right here. your relatives actually lived here? >> relatives, yes. >> reporter: as a kid he said he

never spent a day in school, never had a dinar to his name. you have come a long way in 60 years. as you may have guessed, he made his money in oil, although not in the way you might expect. in 1971 at the age of 21, abdullah was one of the first five locals hired by the american oil exploration company schlumberger. the omanis worked as grunts with no real hope for advancement. >> it's very hard. food, accommodation, very poor. >> reporter: by 1972, abdullah was so frustrated he organized the country's first-ever labor strike. it lasted two weeks, and it worked. it opened the door for omanis looking to better themselves and abdullah al shukely was one of the first to charge on through. even though he didn't have any real education, in the end, abdullah was teaching engineering graduates how to find oil. he's proud of that.

which brings us back to where this whole story started. are you sure this is safe? abdullah still owns this mud hut and says he wouldn't sell it for all the oil in oman. >> because the things which remind us. >> reporter: i can see what you mean about having that place and this place, being able to compare the two. >> you have no back, no front. you see? >> reporter: perspective. it can be hard to hold on to. but fortunately, abdullah has an ace in the hole in this hole in the desert. >> sitting room. >> reporter: part of your sitting room fell on my shoulder. steve hartman, cbs news, oman. >> hill: for katie couric, i'm erica hill. thanks for watching. have a great labor day weekend. good-bye. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

missing pieces in a puzzling your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. in a bay area landfill the search for the missing pieces in a puzzling killing spree. while in a courtroom, the one survivor who may be able to explain what happened. wreckage and hopefully some answers about to emerge from a redwood city lagoon after yesterday's plane crash. and from the men and women who deal with california's public finances, an odd request for privacy. good evening, i'm allen martin. >> i'm dana king. somewhere under a heap of trash, police believe they might find the body of a missing man. as investigators try to connect the dots of the east bay killing spree, new leads have brought investigators to a pittsburg landfill. sherry hu shows us, investigators are combing for clues.